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College football could quickly pull the plug in the fall 2020 season, though players like Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence wants to play. If Lawrence and others want to play this fall, and with the NFL not having an option for them because of rules aimed at protecting the NFL’s free farm system, there’s a solution hidden in plain sight.
The XFL.
With Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson leading a new group of owners (the sale was approved Friday in bankruptcy court) and immediately stimulating a market that has collapsed twice in the last 20 years, there is a rare and unique opportunity for XFL 3.0. Find one city, form a hard bubble, and throw the doors open for high-end college players who will not be playing college football in the fall of 2020.
They would be able to play football in a safe environment, they would be checked regularly, they would play football, and (wait for it) they would pay.
If college football goes away this fall, FOX and ABC / ESPN would give up on the chance to broadcast XFL games featuring great college talent with recognizable names. And with no city clubs needed, as all games would be played in one place, the players could be assigned to keep current teammates together.
One team could be primarily Alabama players. One could primarily be Clemson players. One would be Ohio State. And so on, until eight rosters (or maybe 12 or 16) are filled, with the best players of all other teams sprinkled to complete the rosters.
Underclassmen would probably not sacrifice their qualification to play this fall. The XFL would provide a mechanism for giving players destined for the 2021 concept this opportunity to play this fall, get paid, and provide NFL scouts with more feature film.
It is such an obvious solution that it would be a surprise if it the net event – if / when college football stands for the fall of 2020.
And if anyone can pull off such a thing, it’s Dwayne Johnson. It will be interesting to see if he sees the opportunity, and if he and his partners seize it.
